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HI! I am not sure what the cheapest remedial class would be. Or what exactly you mean by remedial class. Do you mean nclex prep course? I went through ATI which was a requirement for my school. I am fairly certain that everyone I graduated with passed nclex on the first try. We did have a 3 day prep class that we went to and then we had use of their web site to do lots of questions. I too would prefer to just do things online but in this case, I do think going to an actual class is important. For one thing, questions and discussions that occur will help you. Also, you will be forced to concentrate on the information rather than possibly be distracted by whatever is going on at home. At least that is the way I am. lol. If you dont mind my asking, how have you prepared in the past for the test and how long ago did you graduate?

I took the NCLEX on 3/13 and passed! My test stopped at 75 questions and I was pretty sure I failed. I literally guessed at every single answer on that test. It was very difficult. Way different than the prep questions I had done. I had a lot of med questions and they were all meds that I had very little knowledge about. Definitely not common meds. Also had a lot of select all that apply. Anyway, just thought I would share how I prepared. Our school required that we purchase the ATI program. It is a fairly decent program for preparing you for nclex. I went to the prep class ATI offered and then I just did the practice questions. I did every problem they offered and then I did them again. I guess about 1000-1500 questions total. I also had the ATI app on my phone and I would do questions on that all semester long when I was bored or waiting at a doc appt. or something. I do think that also helped. Make sure when you do the questions, you read the rationales. It's really important and probably the best way to learn the information. The day before the test, do not study! Just relax and try to get a good nights sleep. Good Luck!

I never wanted male docs. When I had my first two children I went to an all female OB/GYN practice. When I was pregnant with my third child I decided to go to a local highly recommended birth center that had recently opened in my area. I was excited about a having my third child at the birth center with midwives. When I went to my first appointment I found out they actually had a male midwife there. I was told that I would have to see him at least once during prenatal visits because of the off chance that he was the only one on duty when I went into labor. Well, as the fates would have it, he was the only one available when I went into labor and I ended up with a male midwife. lol Naturally, I was a bit put off by the thought of it but as you probably know, when you are in labor, all modesty pretty much goes out the door. I ended up needing a c/s and my male midwife was wonderful. He went into the OR with me and filmed the delivery and during the entire thing said what was happening. So my delivery video is quite educational. That is something I may not have gotten with a female midwife. So I guess I got over my reservations about having a male doc/nurse. As a nurse I would not be offended at all having a male ask for another male to do personal care or put in a catheter, etc. We want our patients to get better, feel comfortable and safe. Sometimes, the gender of your provider can't be your choice. If you are rushed to the ED in an ambulance you will get whoever is there to receive you. But if you are on a floor and there are other nurses available, why not accommodate the patient? I think it is awful for any male nurse to feel mad or resentful over a patients preference. It is not personal, it is just about how comfortable they are personally. It doesn't mean they think you will be a bad nurse or a sexual predator. It may just be that they do not want a stranger who is a male to do their personal care. If they only knew what went on in the OR though, they would probably get over their modesty issues real fast. lol

Horrible white tops with logo and they zip up the front. Really awful. Burgundy pants. White shoes. Lab coats are optional in clinical but you must wear in lab. They can be any white lab coat but it must have school logo. I really wish they would lose the ugly white shirts and go with a scrub shirt or something. It is stiff and uncomfortable and unisex so they do not fit women very well.

What? I don't understand this post at all.

My favorite shoes are KLOGS brand. They are so comfy and they have clog style or non-clog style. But the main point for me is I have a bunion and they do not bother it at all. They are a little pricey but worth it. Your comfort is very important!

I am already in clinicals. Just finished my first semester. It is very competitive getting in but I think that makes sense because it is a difficult program and if it was too easy to get in, there would be a much higher fail rate.

Just thought I would take a minute to touch base with all of the incoming Lancaster nursing students. Before I started I had all sorts of questions and very few answers. Most of the posts I saw regarding the program at HACC was how hard it was, and how the instructors wanted you to fail, etc. I just finished my first semester and yes, it is hard. It is really hard. Lots of work and you do have to be dedicated. Before starting this I had friends tell me that you have to "really want this" and they are correct. Nursing school is like nothing you have ever done before. BUT, it is doable. First of all, if you made it into the program, Congratulations! You are in the top of your class and that just goes to show you that if you can make it into HACC's nursing program, chances are you will make it through nursing school. You are a smart, dedicated student. I have to say I was scared to death starting school but the instructors (at least in Lancaster) are fabulous. They really want you to succeed and they will do whatever it takes to help you-IF you want the help. They will not carry you. You have to work your tail off but they are available to assist you, to do whatever it takes to help you make it. You can do it! You just need to make up your mind that you are going to work your butt off and do the best you can do. And do not complain. If it was easy, everyone would do it. It is work. Hard work, but the end result will be worth it. So what helped me? First, read as much as you can but seriously, there is no way you can read every single word of every single chapter assigned from the 5 or so text books assigned the first semester. But try to read as much as you can, follow the power points (that are provided by the school-after you buy them of course) lol, but what worked for me is, I tried to read as much as I could before class. Then I came to every single class. No, this is not regular school where you can blow it off because you are tired or it is sunny out and you want to hang with your friends. You have to go to class. Every- single- class. Take notes on the power point then go home and make flash cards. What also worked for me is I had a small study group that I met with every day before class (for 3 hours) where we compared notes, talked about what we were studying, and yea, gossiped, looked at youtube videos, etc. I digress, you can't study 100% of the time but it helps to have a few friends that you can get together with, to study with. Also, you will be getting with them to practice your skills in lab and also recording your skills. They will record you and you will record them. So make sure you trust them and respect them because you will be relying on them to do a good job when you are taping because it could be the difference between a "met" or "Not Met". And believe me, you want to be "met" or you can consider yourself "out". Ahh!!...Which just adds to the stress of it all. So in summary, I just want to say that you can do this! It is not so difficult that only geniuses can pass. You can do it but be prepared to work hard. But, you can also still read for pleasure, go out occasionally with your family/friends or maybe even watch TV. Just not all of the time. But know that you CAN do it! It is attainable. Make up your mind to work hard, be a team player and have fun. You did not get into this program for the money after all. You are doing this because you want to help people, you want to make a difference and you can and will do that with a lot of hard work and dedication. But you do not need to sell your soul and the instructors are not lining up waiting to strike you down. They want you to do well as much (almost) as you do. So put on your big girl/boy pants and get ready to work hard and you will find that at the end, you are a NURSE! How great is that?

I do not think you will be shunned but don't discount a study group quite yet. I was always a solo learner as well but when I started nursing school, I hooked up with two classmates that I knew from pre-reqs. We would meet every morning for 3 hours before lecture and just do homework together. We could discuss things we didn't understand or share study tips. Then before exams we would go through all of our flash cards and quiz one another. Also we would get together and collectively make a study guide which is nice to have a 3 or 4 pg outline of the most important info that you can carry around with you the days before the exam. In my program, you absolutely have to have at least one person that you can practice skills with and also we have to tape some of our skills and you need someone willing to tape you. When you are being taped, it is nice to feel comfortable with the person taping you. Even though I am older than most of my classmates, I have found that you become really close to your study group. We have expanded from the original 3 to about 10 of us that do not all meet at once but that get together and then share info with the ones that coulnd't make it. Anyway, I guess I just do not think I would make it through without the friendships of the men and women in my group. :)

That is really too bad. All of my text books, or I should say the main ones, med surg, OB, Principles of Nursing, etc. come with electronic versions. I still use my text books but I use the electronic resources to do nclex questions from the chapter and other learning activities they come with. I have an MacBookPro and would never ever ever go back to a windows based pc. I have had this computer now 1.5 years and have not had one minutes trouble with it. Unlike every other laptop I have had over the years. HP, Dell, IBM. I also have a nursing ap on my iphone that I would be lost without during clinical. It is called nursing central and was about 169.00 but we had to either get the ap or the books and lugging three books to clinical was not at all appealing to me. I love having davis at my fingertips. I have thought about getting an ipad. My husband wants one though so I think I will let him get his first and see then if I still want one. I do have a Kindle though that I LOVE and use all of the time to destress from the nursing school coursework. Now that the semester is over I have a ton of books ready to read over the summer. :) Oh and only a couple of students in my class take a laptop or ipad to school with them. We get powerpoints for each class and I take notes directly in them. We are also not allowed to record lecture at my school.

You have to be dedicated. If you really want it, you can do it. It is not easy but it is definitely doable if you set your mind to it. I swear I think that they try to make it as difficult as possible to weed people out. The tests are different than you are used to. All nclex style but, if you have the desire and are pretty smart (not a genius, mind you) you can do it.

You are definitely not too old. In fact, you are probably about the average age of students at my school.

Good luck! We did not have to take TEAS. But we were admitted based on our score. I think for my school, my semester the minimum score was 94.5 points. Some schools admit by lottery. I do not think that is fair. I am all for rewarding hard work and perseverance.

OK, so I am 44 and just finished my first semester of nursing school (clinical). For pre-nursing classes I had a binder, did flash cards, etc. But for the program, my school supplies us with bound powerpoint of each section so the binder was not necessary. I take notes on the power point. Then, I make flash cards (every night after class to keep on top of it) and basically between making flash cards and going over them occasionally, it has been enough to keep a B average. Now you may think a B is not so great but believe me, all of us were A students and a bunch of people are flunking out. A B is nothing to shrug at. :) But seriously, what works for me may not work for you. You just need to see what is best for you. Another thing I did is I have a study group. Our class starts at 12 but we meet every lecture day at 7:30 and review together. Now some of that time is spent just talking or whatever. That is fine. The point is we still do spend time on our studies rather than being home cleaning or something. I also summarize the notes with a study guide. You also need to try to read as much as you can from your text books but you have to learn to pretty much skim the material then zero in on the stuff that is in text boxes. This is the info that is really important. Last, do all of the practice nclex questions at the end of each chapter and on the computer. The tests in nursing school are all nclex style and it is totally different from normal classes tests. It takes a little while to get used to it and if your school offers a test taking seminar, take it. They do help you figure out how to take the questions apart and figure out what is important info (to answer the question ) and what is just thrown in there to confuse you. All in all it is doable and you will find time fly's. Just hang in there, do your best and do not expect to keep your 4.0 unless you are a genus :) lol .:nurse:

Are you serious? I am not a smoker but come on, if you start taking away rights of people who are engaging in LEGAL activities, you are majorly infringing on their rights. It is no one's business what they do as long as they are not endangering anyone at the school or doing something illegal.